JENNILACEY, I am in a similar situation as you as far as fitness level and regimen but have a little bit higher body fat. I try to stay at around 20% - 22%, just kind of where I feel my best. I am also active outside my "structured" gym activities, and simply for fun. We hike, cycle and play tennis. I feel your frustration, because once you get to a certain level of fitness, these things just don't seem to challenge your systems the way they might have when you first started your program. It's hard to know just what is considered exercise anymore, right? When you are used to pushing yourself so very hard, it's difficult to know whether you can take a walk with the kids into account. My HR never goes over 112 on a 10 mile walk or hilly hike or even mowing the grass so how do you take all this into account??

The best thing I can offer is to go by how you feel. I consulted a sports nutritionist a few years ago and she of course did take my NEAT into consideration when determining a caloric range for me. I was shocked at how much I had to eat, but she was right. When I got my calories up to where she wanted me to be (and it took a few weeks to adjust), the fat started falling off. Someone as fit as you are, and as tuned in with their own body knows how what you do affects you. Are your legs heavy the day after your hike, even though you didn't feel tired at the time you were doing it? Do you sleep well afterwards? Do you feel cranky, lose patience with the kids easily, lose interest in other activities, get sleepy in the afternoon?? Do you feel cold? You might be surprised at the strange symptoms undereating for your activity level can make you feel.

Whatever you decide to do, make those adjustments slowly. I owed myself an additional 400 calories a day and I increased it by 100/day each week for four weeks. I felt better, performed better and was generally happier and more energetic. I know you eat well and are very fit, but all this stuff no matter how low intensity in nature does require fuel.

For those of you who think walking is not exercise, think again....I have done mostly walking until recently because the treadmill is all I was able to do because of my weight. I have lost over 100 pounds and almost 9 inches in my waist. I have just recently added some kettle bell and stationary bike. About half of the weight has come off since mid January from just watching what I eat and yes walking.

Real exercise may have to wait. Right now I'm concentrating on activity. Using my new pedometer, I've learned that I burn about 100 calories per mile, just walking. This means, to shed even a single pound, I'd need to walk 35 miles (3500 cal. = 1 pound).

For walking to be genuinely beneficial to my weight loss agenda, I would need to pick up my pace or increase my distance or probably both! But, like I said, walking beats sitting, so I'm working my way up to that elusive 10K steps per day. I'm averaging about 6000 steps per day, so, I need to add about one more mile per day (for me,10K steps is roughly 2.8 miles).

So that's the short term goal, to learn to make 10K steps a common,,everyday activity. Once that's easy, I'll increase the goal.

--p

The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.

Actually, they *just* added the feature to input your activity level and to have your daily calories burned in sync with your calorie range for the day. So I put myself as "lightly active" and found out I've been way under eating in my old Spark range. Which shouldn't surprise me due to my rapid weight loss and other symptoms. I'm going to try this new range and monitor my weight for the next month.

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

Jenni, I don't think there's any way to set your activity level above sedentary on Spark. I joined about a year and a half ago, and I never saw an option to set my activity level to anything different. Sedentary is assumed. Therefore, if you want to calculate how many calories you're burning in a day you should probably count those hikes as exercise, even if they don't elevate your heart rate to the point you consider "exercise."

I'm fairly obsessed with my BMR and calculating whether I'm "lightly active" or "moderately active" or what, LOL. I use this website to try to figure out how many calories I'm really burning per day.

I'm limited in the opportunities I have this month to do planned cardio or ST so I'm doing bursts of activity and lots of movement. It isn't perfect, but it is definitely better than nothing! This is a temporary 6 week change-of-pace due to operating our family farm.

"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." ~C. Malesherbes~

"Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts." Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD)

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

Yes, but the question is; is it for *me*? When I'm fit and it doesn't get my heart rate up much or should I just count it as extra activity? Walking may be exercise for some people but I'm asking about me in particular because even a moderate pace only gets my heart rate up to about 80 bpm, that's less than 50% of my maximum heart rate.

These are leisure nature hikes with my family but the duration is typically long, around 2 hours. I already do HIIT and high intensity calethstenic intervals as my scheduled exercise (as well as strength training/circuit training). I work out 6-7 days a week and have the resting heart rate and blood pressure in the range of a professional athlete.

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

In your case, I'd count it as activity, but not exercise, because like you said it doesn't really get your heart rate up. I'm also assuming that, as these are hikes with small children, they're reasonably well-maintained trails; it's not like you're bushwhacking or anything (are you?). All in all, it's probably not much different than strolling around the neighbourhood, and for walking to count as exercise it *does* need to get your heart rate into your target heart zone and keep it there.

Hi, I'm new to writing anything in a "blog"? OK, I'm 64 and no techy. Hope that's the correct word. Your question caught my eye and just had to write. Should you walk?...Yes, if you can, as it gives an entire body workout. I had to figure out what would work for me. Started losing weight 2 1/2 years ago, weighed 260 at 5' 2". How I got to that point, DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF MYSELF. I have taken care of my sick husband for the past 8 years and then a light bulb went off..."lose weight or you won't be here to take care of him, help yourself to help him". Have lost over 74 pounds so far. Could not go out to exercise, soooo, looked up on the computer to find out how many calories I could burn by doing the "normal" things around the house. Scrubbing the bathrooms for 30 minutes=200 calories burned, making beds for 30 minutes 130 calories, vacuuming 30 minutes=90 calories, etc. Well, I put a lot of extra effort into these chores (which I hate to do in the first place) & found that if I stretch and push just a little more, doing something each and every day was better for me than trying to find time and someone to watch my husband while I walk for an hour. Yes, I still go outside, rake=225 for 30 min., enjoy the sunshine, fresh air & the birds but usually don't stay out but 10-15 min. at a time, like a mini vacation. Also do lunges while collecting clothes to wash and when I take my husband to the doctors (many appointments) I do lunges when walking from car to building and back while my husband laughs his head off. Hit a snag about 6 months ago...just stopped losing, gave up, gained 8 pounds and have now started back on the road after reading a blog that said..."no matter how long it takes". I kept giving myself a time limit. I "should" be able to lose X pounds by X date, got frustrated when that date came and went and I had set myself up for failure one more time. To everyone out there, HI, keep up the great job. With SP, it's so super easy to track and see what I'm doing and read from people with the same challenges as me, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Don't know how to add a picture to my Username thingy!

Absolutely yes! Walking counts! If you do nothing else or if you are not in physical condition to take on extreme exercise, this is a great place to start! From there, you can progress to bike riding and then maybe fast walk/jog. So pull out some good walking shoes or sneakers and start today!

I do 10,000 steps with my fitbit each day but if I don't count that as exercise unless I have spent at least 10 minutes walking fast enough to elevate my heart rate. It is easier for me to get both in when I get on my treadmill but sometimes I get lazy and just get my 10,000 steps by walking around Walmart, etc.

I think it depends on your fitness level if you should count walking.As you said, you are a very active person. Therefore, I doubt walking is "pushing" you or causing you to burn a lot of extra calories. I'd track it for the sake of keeping a record, but, as suggested before, maybe as a custom exercise - that way you know you did it when you check at a later time, but you don't have it giving you crazy amounts of calories burned.A lot of people use walking as their primary exercise since it is so easy to do and you can do it with a relativly low fitness level. Especially for someone just starting out to exercise, Id definately count it.I personally bike around town a lot (I don't own a car) and go on 20-30 min walks almost every day, but I don't count that. For me, that is just part of my "normal" lifestyle. If I burn a few extra calories in the process, that's great. My little rule of thumb is if i get in exercise clothes for it, I count it, if not, then not :).

Walking and running burn the same calories per mile. It's just that you cover that mile so much faster when you run. But running is hard on the knees, hips, back and feet. When you walk, the heel bone strikes the ground creating a biochemical reaction that strengthens your bones against osteoporosis. So walk away! But challenge yourself by walking faster, up and down more hills, or longer at least once a week.

Still stand by what I've said: "walking IS exercise!" Maybe it doesn't use as many calories as a run but it saves your knees and does expend calories. BAH, HUMBUG on anyone who says walking 'isn't' exercise!!!

I'm a little confused because you seem to be equating heartrate with calories burned. Heart rate is a measure of the effort put into it, but isn't reflective of calories burned. Just because I run doesn't negate the mile and a half I go with my dog at the off leash park.

Calories are burned whether you raise your heartrate or not and when it comes to SP determining how many calories you should eat, calories burned counts, not heartrate. If you're walking for 2-3 hours, even slowly, you're burning a significant amount of calories. From what I've read the average 140lb woman burns 100 calories per mile, more if it's varied terrain. Say you're walking 3mph for 2 hours - that's 600 calories.

That's more than I burn in a 30 minute run.

It's a significant number when you're trying to maintain a specific balance for your calorie deficit.

Of course walking is excercise. Itry to walk 3-6 miles a day. sometimes I do, sometimes i don't. but i walk instead of wasting 3 dollars on the bus every time. Most definitely,walking is exercise. But here's the trick: I have to make sure not to put the calories right back in after walking a good 4 miles. I make sure not to soil all that work in two minutes with a muffin afterwards. don't put the calories right back in, because that will sabotage everything. Great question. Be encouraged, and well done!.

I'm having trouble finding where to adjust activity level for BMR on Spark now too. That may have been a feature they had in place back when I oringally set up my profile, or I could just be missing it. Basically, most BMR calculators will ask you to enter an activity level multiplier, so it'll calculate your BMR for weight, age, height and gender (what your body would typically burn if you were sitting still all day), and then multiply that by your activity level. Spark does have a BMR 'calculator' (actually just an article with the formula), but this one doesn't include that activity multiplier. I believe this is the same formula SP uses when they create your calorie range:

If that's the case now, than it probably is assuming everyone is lightly active. If you're interested, it might be worth asking a Spark Coach on the technical forums if there's a way to adjust your activity multiplier when the site is calculating your BMR or if all extra activity has to be entered separately.

As for your hikes, I think the best solution would be keeping a close eye on your heart rate monitor throughout the whole hike (I'm assuming you have one, since you mention your heart rate in the OP). It sounds like you're moving at varying speeds and intensities, so a HRM would show you how your body is responding to it and give you an approximate calorie burn total. Depending on what you have, you could also drill down deeper to get more information - My Garmin will graph my heart rate for me against my speed and elevation, and I get some very good information from that. You might be surprised, especially if you're doing a lot of climbing.

You and I are around the same age, height and weight, as well as the same starting weights. I think my solution would be to wear the Garmin on a hike so I could analyze it later and figure out if it was something I wanted to track. Normally, if my HR was below 100 bpm for most of it, my instinct would probably be to count it as bonus activity rather than formal exercise, but the fact that you're doing it fairly frequentely (up to eight hours per week) would make me pause. I'd probably end up taking the calorie burn total from my watch, maybe rounding it down a bit, and adding it in just so I had a record of it. Not so much because it's going to change anything, but because those little extra hundred calories do add up. As an example, I was doing a marathon clinic that was a little over a kilometer from my house. While I normally wouldn't have included the commute to and from the meeting place in my fitness minutes, I ended up tacking an extra 2k on to my runs to account for it. Normally, the extra 12 minutes of running would have fallen under everyday movement from point A to point B for me, but when my mileage started to really pile up, it was important to acknowledge the extra 10k per week that I was running on top of my normal training mileage. You may be hiking enough that it adds up to an extra 500 - 100 calories burned per week, and that would be good information to have.

Walking is one of the best exercises you can do---and that everyone can do. It is the first step you can take to improve your health. Think of it---can someone who is 350 lbs run a marathon? I think not--that person would most likely be too out of shape and collapse from respiratory or cardiac problems. But can that same person walk at a leisurely rate? Definitely. And as you walk more, you get into better shape, allowing you to walk at a faster rate.And if anyone wants a great exercise, especially for your legs, find a clogging group near you.You will definitely love it.

I do,cuz I'm b being very lazy - for who knows what reason - and that's all I'm really doing, and not even every day....

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

Slim is where I wanted to be in 201o & 2011! Never happened, plateaued for a long time and gave up... got off track, but never left, so am back on track again!!! Make 2012 my year! So far, did finally lose 25 lbs. over the summer, but have found about 11 of it so far, it didn't hide good enough... and lost it again in 2013... going down to 175 this fall, and staying there...this time!

YES!!!! Walking is my main fitness activity. My daily goal is to walk 10,000 steps, it is not a hard goal to obtain. I walk around my neighborhood which has allot of uphill, I carry a backpack (@ least weighing 10lbs) w/ plenty of water, & if I'm walking w/ my dogs, I have snacks for them. I change up my pace from walking slow, to moderate, then fast & start again slow. I have bad knees so I cannot run. I get a good cardio workout. I recommend purchasing a pedometer that track steps, time, calories burned., & a motivational walking DVD or downloading music that will keep you going on your walks. You will surprised how easy walking 10,000 steps & more is.Blessings

"I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed!" Blessings, IceAngel0531

I know many, many people who have "walked off" ALL of their excess weight! I'm not talking about speed walking, either! I think when you go from being totally sedentary and eating unconsciously, to portion control and consistent activity you are going to see a difference!

Kudos to ALL forms of exercise! Variety is the spice of life! Have fun & be creative!

As opposed to what, sitting and watching TV? surfing on the computer? sleeping? Yes, walking counts. It may not burn lots of calories or spike your heart rate but you get stretching, muscle building and balance benefits.

Walking like that is a physical activity, which is good, but not exercise as its usually defined. Exercise is planned, structured and repetitive with a specific goal attached. Like walking, or running, on a treadmill for a specifc distance or time and keeping your heart rate at a certain level. If you are pretty fit walking is not going to get your heart rate high enough, as you found out. But activities like hiking or sports are great to do and should be included in a fitness program.

VIKINGSMOMDE- Yes, they are a new activity. I started in April of this year. Although I've always done a couple hikes in the spring and fall but no where near as often or for as long as I've been doing this year.

I've been trying to underestimate my speed and duration when I have been tracking. There are times we walk faster and slower. Times we stop to look at something. Times the kids and I have a race or I jog to catch up with my husband. Some of our hikes top 2.5 hours (which is about all I'm willing to put my children through! Although my 5 year old LOVES our walks and could keep going forever it seems and my 3 year old hops in and out of her stroller).

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

BARBANA- I am neither pre-menopausal nor menopausal. I'm 30 years old. And I already have an exercise program where I do interval training, metabolic resistance training, circuit training and strength training. I do high intensity cardio for calorie burn and I've already reached my goal weight, just trying to shed a few extra pounds gained from transitioning to maintenance. I also said, I hike with my family which involves my young children. So speed walking/jogging isn't an option and my hikes are for leisure, not necessarily calorie burn.

Like I said, I just want to know if my hikes are worth tracking since I am already at a high fitness level and they don't really get my heart rate up or if I should track because they are often and of a longish duration.

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

I walk a fair amount for work (both before & after weightloss) and don't track it. However, I do track the 'extra' walks I do over my usual average. So, for example, if I typically walk 15k steps & have a day when I hit 22K, I'll give myself a little fitness credit for those 3 extra miles.

It doesn't usually make a difference in my caloric intake but does help me track my deficit more carefully. I found out through trial & error that if I don't track the extra movement, my deficit gets too big & my weightloss slows down.

Walking is a weight bearing exercise and that's even better than swimming for a women who is menopausal or peri-menipausal. If you are just walking very slow and short distances it will take a long time to burn calories. Race walking is ideal or jogging and walking is even better. Running is the best for loosing weight.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

@Jenni - I know that you can update that info, but darned if I can find it right now!

check this - from the START page, on the left side, CALORIES TO BURN THIS WEEK, click CHANGE GOAL and you can see some info. There is a place to enter how many calories you burn each week. Maybe that would help?

Edited by: OBIESMOM2 at: 6/12/2013 (13:19)

The most handicapped person in the world is a negative thinker; a person who has the skills, abilities, talents and tools, yet chooses not to use them. ~Heather Whitestone

Forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. ~Leonard Cohen

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

I'm in a similar position. Sometimes my husband and I will go for long-ish walks (5-10k) at a slower pace than what I need to get my heart rate up. I also don't have a car, so I walk to and from work, to the grocery store, etc. I run five days a week, so as a targeted workout, walking, even at a fast pace, doesn't put me in a category where I'd track it as exercise.

When I originally set up my fitness goals, I took the walking into account by not selecting 'sedentary' as my base activity level (I work a desk job, so if I didn't have a walking commute during the day, sedentary would be accurate). Basically, the walking is already calculated into my BMR, so counting it again as separate exercise would be double dipping for me.

Sometimes I still want to track an activity because I think it's significant enough to count the fitness minutes even though it's not what I would count as a true workout (like when my hubby and I do our long walks together). In that case, I'll either wear a heart rate monitor to get a good read on how hard I've actually worked, or I'll enter the activity as a custom exercise with a very low calorie burn. I do the same with yoga - I want to add it because it's good for me and seeing it on my tracker encourages me to do it, but it's not burning many more calories than watching TV would. Entering it as a custom exercise lets me acknowledge that I've taken 45 minutes of my day to do a fitness-related activity without artificially inflating the calorie burn.

Example - I recently had a girl's week at the beach. I was up and out by 6 every morning for a bike ride, run or walk on my own. I counted that as exercise. The walking on the beach with the group I did not count. The pace was much slower. I just figured it was a little extra movement than what I'd get at home.

when your hiking is on some serious inclines and your HR gets up there, yeah - I'd count that!

Edited by: OBIESMOM2 at: 6/12/2013 (09:09)

The most handicapped person in the world is a negative thinker; a person who has the skills, abilities, talents and tools, yet chooses not to use them. ~Heather Whitestone

Forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. ~Leonard Cohen

Yes. I walk a truckload at work....between 3-8 hours a night that I work, and I intentionally push myself to walk the majority at 3.5 mph. (Being a server has it's benefits) I have lost 3" off of my body in pushing myself harder. Plus I hit the gym and push some heavy weight as well, but the walking high speed at work has kept my heart rate up a bit higher. I also just started cross fit.

I even create workouts with housework! I do dishes on my toes, vacuum and clean surfaces at a higher speed just to get my heart rate up and/or work the muscles harder. Then I will hit the workout seriously since housework obviously makes for a nice warm up....lol.

Give me a mountain and I will climb it. Give me a river and I will cross it. Give me a lake and I will swim it. Give me a coupon binder and I will show you how it's done! www.mrstightwadcq.blogspot.com

My family and I do a lot of nature hiking. Usually 3-4x a week where we walk for an hour and a half to two and a half hours. It's not at a fast pace, I'd guess between 2-3 miles/hr. But the thing is; I'm pretty fit and it doesn't get my heart rate up much. I go from a resting heart rate of 50-60 bpm to maybe 70-80 bpm.

I have been tracking our hikes, anything over an hour but should I really be tracking it or just consider any extra calories burned as a bonus? Most walks avg. between 1 1/2-2 hours. It doesn't effect my calorie range but just curious for personal reference in estimating my calorie deficit.

"Toning" is marketing muscles to women who are afraid if they pick up a barbell, they'll leave the gym looking like She-Hulk. It doesn't happen, what does happen is you get results. Lifting Barbie weights does nothing but waste time.

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